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Nice Davis posted:Does anybody have any experience with rescue organizations within a 4-5 hour drive of Champaign, IL? I.e. we're willing to travel to St. Louis, the Quad Cities, Milwaukee, Central Michigan, Indianapolis, or anything closer. We are beginning our search but don't really know how to choose between the orgs that pop up on Google Maps. We had good luck with GPA Wisconsin. I imagine they'd just refer you to an Illinois org, but that might be what you need.
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Aug 13, 2013 14:50
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Meowenstein posted:I've been thinking about getting a dog, and hearing about how greyhounds are a good sized breed that do well in apartments is making me consider one. I'm also looking for a fishing companion and a general outdoor adventure buddy, though. My fishing trips are pretty lazy and mostly consist of sitting on the riverbank or lake shore enjoying the outdoors. I also live in Iowa so there's all kinds of weather here. Would a greyhound work well in this situation, or would a different breed be more suitable? Aside from what the others said, keep in mind that they have to be on leash at ALL TIMES when outside. They have poor recall and will just take off for no reason and never come back. The local rescue organization pretty frequently has to have massive search and fliering operations because someone's brother-in-law left a door open, and their dog just left. They aren't unhappy or trying to escape abuse, they just aren't smart enough to come back on their own. Along with everything else, this really makes me think of them as suburban indoor dogs, not hiking companions. Also, our older one is slowing down, and doesn't really even seem to like his short walks any more. They are mostly lazy animals to begin with, and getting old has really underscored that for our Peter, so you might also want to consider that as you make your choice.
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Dec 10, 2013 19:29
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slap me silly posted:Or use a harness... let's be real, adoption groups can be pretty ridiculous. The paperwork I had to fill out was offensively invasive, not to mention condescending. For what it's worth, this is generally because applicants, like most people, can be real idiots. Yes, you do have to point out to some people that this is a real commitment, and setting your animal loose in the woods if you change your mind in a week is not allowed, that we do expect you to pay for vet care, even if it costs more than just throwing away the current one and adopting a new animal, etc. We've gotten emails asking questions that were answered on splash screens that came up when you clicked the email link, on a page that said "BEFORE YOU SEND AN EMAIL, PLEASE NOTE THE FOLLOWING:...". (Those people didn't make it through the adoption process.) It's a sad dilemma, really. I totally agree that some questionnaires are offensively invasive. At the same time, I've considered finding offshore hosting to create a rescue-only Do Not Adopt list full of whatever info can be gleamed about the really horrible assholes. Mostly, rescuers just burn out eventually and live as hermits.
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Apr 8, 2014 20:44
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actionjackson posted:Gotta love the adoption groups that are clearly not racing neutral I don't know, I think it works okay from a marketing perspective. It's pretty clearly an indictment of the industry that is using up and discarding perfectly good dogs, not of the dogs themselves. And it pulls the heartstrings more than "come see our dogs who have finished their racing careers, and are now moving on to the next exciting chapters of their lives." Also, there are people who want to feel like they're saving abused/neglected animals to feed their savior complex, or who have strong opinions and only want to deal with others who share them, so statements like this are going to appeal to a demographic that other rescues might not reach. I just wonder how they'll keep dogs coming in to the rescue, if the racetracks find out they're being badmouthed.
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Aug 1, 2014 17:01
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SUPER HASSLER posted:One thing to say about the tracks; they breed for performance. actionjackson posted:It is true there is a major health benefit due to the selective breeding used for racing. Also it's nice to not have a bunch of AKC dogs that only come in one color and look deformed (see: AKC German Shephards). I think you need to be careful how much you conclude here. Greys are bred for performance on the track, not for long-term health and happiness. Since they retire by 5 or so, I'm sure the breeders aren't concerned with illnesses or problems that start to come up, say, around age 10. To be sure, breeding for athletic prowess seems likely to result in healthier animals in the long term than breeding for appearance, but it also breeds animals that may only be good at one thing. Many greys have trouble sitting, for example, and our older one struggles to change between standing and lying down. I'd be surprised if this wasn't related to their ridiculously long legs, which are probably great for fast running, but not so much for general movement. Their lack of body fat is also something that helps them go faster, but is a real drawback during the winter here in Wisconsin. In fact, our dogs seem pretty sensitive to both warm and cold weather. I'm sure that didn't matter during a quick sprint around the track, but it's an issue now, when we have to be careful about when (and how far) to walk them.
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Aug 1, 2014 20:32
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Hugoon Chavez posted:Hey Goonhounds, I'm about to move with my wife to a new apartment and I've been thinking about adopting a Greyhound (probably not a retired horsedog since I'm in SPain and I don't think dog races are big here) since I read they are pretty lazy and don't mind apartments as long as you take them out to stretch their giant monster legs like any other dog. Oddly, I just heard* this weekend that there's a problem in Spain with Galgos, which seem to be similar to greyhounds. Apparently, they're a hunting breed that traditionally isn't treated very well. The woman I was talking to about it said there's a big rescue in Spain called Scooby that is trying to get these dogs into homes as pets once their hunting days are over. The galgo we saw looked sort of like a whippet, I guess, though the owner said she was small even for a galgo. She seemed very sweet, and to have a greyhound-like temperament. * I'm not vouching for the accuracy of anything this woman told me, just passing on her comments.
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Aug 18, 2014 16:21
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wyoming posted:Any of you know how to deal with a dog that terrified of everything? Our dogs have trouble with the rooms that have wood floors, too. We had to put carpet runners down to let them get from the front room to their food bowls, and/or the back door. It seems to work, though one of them eyes the runners suspiciously if it he sees it moving, or, God forbid, feels it move underneath him. Our older dog has trouble with stairs and the car, and we've had to put him on pain meds for arthritis and general old age aches and pains. It seems to help some, but we're also resigned to him being a first-floor only dog in the near future. I'm not sure what to do about the car for him. I don't really want to buy a minivan just because we have two old dogs, but I don't know any way to make my sedan more geriatric-dog-friendly. Peristalsis fucked around with this message at 17:59 on Jan 18, 2015 |
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Jan 18, 2015 17:56
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Mr E posted:Cross-post from the dog/puppy thread: We love our old greyhounds - they were 8 and 10 years old when we adopted them 2.5 years ago. Their lifespan is usually quoted as 12 - 14 years. Pros:
Cons:
I'm not a dog expert by any means, and these are the first dogs I've had as an adult, so I can't intelligently compare them to any other breeds, but the above points are the things that have stuck out to me. Gratuitous greyhound pic:  Edit: The rescue you linked says it's the local branch of GPA, so they're probably legit. See if they have a forum on their site for you to poke around on while you figure out what you want to do. Edit 2: I don't see a forum on that site, but you should contact the organization to see if you can help out with volunteering and/or fostering, to get to know some of their dogs. Our local organization has meet-and-greets at local pet stores, and those are a great way to meet a couple of dogs, and start getting to know the rescue folks. Edit 3: If you don't have access to a fenced in yard, as mikemil828 suggests, look for a local dog park to join. It's a great thing to support anyway. Peristalsis fucked around with this message at 01:47 on Nov 6, 2015 |
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Nov 6, 2015 01:30
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Fuzz Feets posted:I can't quote because I haven't figured that out yet on the phone app but I wanted to comment on Bamhand's question. I just want to point out that, even if you get a higher energy dog, it may not stay high energy forever. We have two older greyhounds. One of them insists on his daily walk (about 3/4 mile round trip most days), sometimes with some "running" (i.e. him jogging lazily, with me sprinting and struggling to keep up for 100 yards), sometimes not. The other goes out with us because he doesn't want to be left alone in the house, but he's VERY slow and plodding, and we end up having to walk the more energetic one again on his own, so he can get some real exercise. My point is that I'm sure both dogs were more active 10 years ago, and we've even seen both of their energy levels decline just in the 3 years we've had them. So, if you get a dog that wants to exercise with you, you need to be okay with the fact that that could change. Same thing with having a dog-walker come over - even if your dogs don't need it at first, they may need it after a while. For us, it's worth $15/day just to know for sure that our old guys aren't spending hours every day desperately trying to hold it in. And we know that if we miss the early bus, or run into traffic, or whatever, they won't explode. We've never had to crate ours, so I can't really speak to that. I will say that when we were looking into adoption, the greyhound rescue coordinator we worked with more or less told us that greys aren't great dogs for doing things with. They're athletic, but their legs are so long that it can make them kind of clumsy and awkward. I'm not sure how good they'd even be at hiking, unless you plan to hike short distances on a flat, soft trail. And, they mostly just aren't interested in doing much. For us, it has been more like having a pair of 75 pound cats in the house than it has been like a stereotypical dog experience. If you really want a companion to go places and do things with you, you might want to consider a different breed.
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Jan 10, 2016 18:52
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bamhand posted:Any tips for a new dog owner? Things I should have ready? I'm supposed to go see some of the adoptable dogs tomorrow and I'm preparing a list of things I'll need for taking one home. Typically, rescues won't do same-day adoptions. YMMV, but don't be surprised if you don't get to come home with a new friend tomorrow. It's also good for you, since it forces you to think about things, and gives you a chance to see more than just one set of dogs before making a decision. My apologies of I mis-read this, and you're just starting to get stuff together for when you do bring one home.
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Jan 29, 2016 02:58
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ElectricSheep posted:Surgery will destroy our finances, but we'll do it anyway if we need to because we are already attached. We'll figure it out. Thank you for being a good owner, and I hope you and your grey are happy together for a long time. If it helps, you can think of the cost of the surgery as a donation to the rescue, since they'd have had to cough up the money if you hadn't adopted him when you did. Or, maybe they just wouldn't have noticed at all, and he would have died from it.
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Jun 21, 2016 20:35
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ElectricSheep posted:
I'm so glad it seems to be going okay. Have you considered sleeping downstairs with him? Our older dog can't handle stairs at all any more, so we alternate sleeping downstairs on a mattress or the couch so he doesn't have to be alone at night (he's kind of clingy). It also means it's easier for him to wake someone up if his old-man bladder needs some relief at 3:00 AM.
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Jun 22, 2016 05:11
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Horace-Noah posted:He's come so far in just a week. We live on the second floor of an old building and have a pretty massive flight of stairs he now climbs like a champ. Moving each paw up each stair and putting treats every few the first five or so days was tough, but now he's a pro. That's awesome, but a quick word of caution - our older boy never really liked stairs, and after a couple of years, his arthritis, stiffness, and poor eyesight just sort of made it impossible for him to do them at all. He even struggles a bit now with the step and down going in and out of the house. So, even though Rico can do stairs now, he might not be able to later on. If you don't own your home, and you move at some point, it would probably be good to look for a place where he doesn't have to use stairs. ghostgirl118 posted:Update: Tatianna is staying the night at an evet for iv fluids and observation. The vet has completely eliminated HGE since she had a normal stool with them. They think it was myoglobin in the urine which they did find later on again, although reduced later in the day. It seems like she has some sort of muscle trama, and she's been lying on one side too much? There's not something specific we can point to for why she won't get up or why she can't seem to put weight on her back legs. The evet is doing an exam now. Best wishes to Tatianna. I hope this all resolves for her. I'd go nuts if I had to leave one of my guys at the vet overnight. Might have to climb in the kennel and stay with him.
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Jun 29, 2016 15:55
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Nuclear War posted:I'm back in Norway getting stuff ready to bring Meesha and the wife back to Europe and its the longest me and Meesha have ever been apart. It sucks. Got an amazing picture of him today that I felt you guys might appreciate. Appearantly he's found a turkey feather and will not go on walks without it. Adorable as hell! One of our dogs usually wants to take a particular stuffed animal out on his walks, but then carefully deposits it in the same spot in the grass right in front of the front door. Every time. Won't pick it up again on the way back in, either. That's my job.
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Jul 22, 2016 15:58
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Peter turns the big 1-4 today, so we had a little party for him over the long weekend. He and Ty celebrated by sharing a double cheeseburger from Culvers. He also got a little bite of pizza tonight, in honor of the piece of pizza he stole off of my plate within 15 minutes of getting here on the day we adopted him.    Sorry for the picture quality, those were the best/least blurry of the lot. For a couple of old farts, they sure do fidget a lot.
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Sep 9, 2016 03:00
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Ty had his belated 12th birthday party today.    He got half of a Culvers double cheeseburger, and will get the other half tomorrow, probably. I have some doggy frozen custard somewhere that I'll try to dig out for him tonight.
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Feb 4, 2017 19:43
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a slime posted:Today I had a home visit/interview with a local adoption agency for retired racers. They brought a ~big ol dog~ and he was very friendly and cuddly. We live on the top floor of a duplex and he cried the whole way up the stairs though Xguard86 posted:I think every grey struggles with those open stairs. They figure it out and do OK most of the time. My older dog never got comfortable with my single half-flight of stairs and eventually just couldn't do it any more. My younger dog (12 years old) is struggling a bit with them now, too. They are/were both big dogs (over 70 lbs) with hip problems, and I'm sure that doesn't help, but just know that even if you get a dog used to it when it's young, stairs can cause problems again later. I'm very glad that my first floor is big enough for the dog(s) to have some room to move around without feeling cramped.
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Feb 21, 2017 02:47
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DarkHorse posted:That's a bummer To be fair, our guys have always seemed to be pretty happy to sleep away most of the day, and I assume greyhounds don't need as much room in the house as other breeds, so even a normal first floor might be fine for them if they can't get upstairs. But I worry about someone saying they live in an upstairs apartment, where there are stairs involved every time they go in or out.
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Feb 21, 2017 18:59
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St Evan Echoes posted:Abby is a good dog. Agree it’s tough watching them get old. It does have its benefits though! Even when they get really up there in years (had a 16 year old lurcher until last year) there are occasional days where they act just like a puppy all silly and full of energy for the day, and those days are among the most memorable you’ll ever have with them. wyoming posted:Yeah definitely, the last year or so of North's life, I would just take him for a walk around a nearby park without his leash on, I'd rarely seen him so happy. The last year or two of my Peter's life, we had to go for slow, short walks with him, then bring Peter home so my other dog and I could take another, faster (and longer) walk. One day in the spring of 2016, Peter got a good head of steam going, and had a good, brisk walk all the way to his old turnaround tree and back. The entire walk, I was thinking that I'd better enjoy it, because it might be the last time he made it that far down the road, and it was. He kept up a good, quick pace the whole way there and back (about 3/4 of a mile round-trip), and just looked so happy and pleased with himself the whole time. It's one of my favorite memories of him. Peter pic: 
Peristalsis fucked around with this message at 01:51 on Nov 8, 2017 |
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Nov 8, 2017 01:39
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EvenWorseOpinions posted:Hi folks, been reading through for a while and I think I'm determined to get a greyhound. I've had what was probably a greyhound mix in the past, judging by appearances and some mannerisms, and I think I am interested in the whole shebang, but I also want to make sure that I don't do the dog a disservice in not being ready to fully take care of him or her. I think you should probably wait until you have the kid, and then see if you still want the extra responsibility of a dog. That will also let you test the dog with your actual, specific kid, instead of depending on the rescue to determine if the dog is generically kid-friendly. The greyhounds I've walked have never been a threat to pull away from their walker or knock anyone over, and I think it's unlikely that your girlfriend will have a problem walking a greyhound, unless she has some disability or something. That said, if the real issue is that your gf isn't really on board with the whole dog-ownership thing, I'd hold off until/unless she comes around. It sucks to be the only caretaker for the dog, and to feel like asking for some help with the walks or feedings is some sort of imposition. (E.g. what are your plans for the dog if/when you have to take business trips?) And it's not fair to put the dog in a position where one of its owners doesn't really want it around, or might one day insist that the dog should go. I apologize if I'm reading too much into your post - something about it just seemed to me like maybe the dog would be your project, rather than a uniformly-loved member of the whole family.
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Jun 22, 2018 17:51
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Genovera posted:Tess pics Wow, that's a pretty active day of changing positions on the bed. She's gonna need a nap.
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Aug 1, 2018 18:59
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Xguard86 posted:Do y'all's hounds ever drag on walks to a quality of life effecting degree? Both of my greys have gotten pretty slow as they got older. One was slow by the time he was 9 or 10, the other kept up a pretty good pace until he was 12 or 13. It turns out that the latter, younger one has esophageal paralysis, for which he had to have surgery. Basically, it meant that the flaps on his esophogus didn't move any more, and he couldn't close his throat all the way when eating, or open it wider to breathe more when he got hot. He ended up with a couple of bouts of heat stroke, both of which might easily have killed him, just because he couldn't breathe enough. If your dog has issues horking a lot when he eats, or other neurological problems, this might be worth considering. Even if your dog's throat is fine, he may well be sensitive to heat, have some arthritis slowing him down, or just be old enough to need to plod along slowly on walks (or some combination of these). I know this is frustrating, but the dog can't help it, and I think your wife just needs to be more patient. I used to have one dog stretching his leash out in front of me, trying to get me to pick up the pace, and the other stretching it behind me, dragging rear end. I ended up having to take two walks every day - a slow, shorter one with both dogs, followed by a faster, longer one with just the younger dog. It's a pain in the rear end, but try to remember that their walks are the highlight of their day, and one of the few things they have to look forward to to break up the horror of lounging around the house all day. Oh, I've also found that my dog walks differently with different people. In the 5 years I've had him, he has only voluntarily turned around to come home on a walk with me maybe a dozen times, whereas other people who walk him report that he gets bored and wants to come home pretty frequently. So it's believable to me that your dog might behave differently with your wife than with others. Can she try walking them during a cooler part of the day to see if anything changes? Can someone else walk the slowpoke while she walks the other(s)? I always feel really bad after I get frustrated at my dog during a walk - I can forget that for him, the walk itself is the point, not getting through it to relax or do other things, like I want to.
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Aug 23, 2018 16:01
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number 1 snake fan posted:Iceman gets pissed at me if i stop giving him skritches My Peter used to snap in the air to demand attention - I didn't realize other dogs did it, too. So ... is that white striping part of the pattern of your rug, or did your dog pounce on a container of baby powder? In other news, Ty turned 14 recently. I didn't get many pics, but this one came out as good as any.  (I was very careful not to let him too close to the candle in his cheeseburger before blowing it out.)
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Feb 18, 2019 18:09
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actionjackson posted:Happy birthday! 14 is pretty impressive. I live in a very cold climate but Abby refuses to do the booties. So winter pretty much always sucks. Ty is okay with me putting the boots on these days, but the front ones don't stay up well, and only stay on for a little while. I've tried at least 3 different kinds of boots for him, too. actionjackson posted:Any tips to get deep earwax out? Abby only gets wax in her right ear for some reason, and way at the bottom is some dark wax below this little ridge in her ear. I typically reach in with a little ball of toilet paper coated in the ear solution stuff. I can't use a q tip because she immediately starts shaking her head. I'm sure it's very uncomfortable (though she has no problem if I put my finger in there for some reason). Ty actually was in pain several years ago from a wax buildup, and the vet had to clear it out while he was sedated for a dental. (The vet tech seemed impressed with how much they got out.) I have some solution I'm supposed to squirt in his ears and hold/massage in for a while before letting him shake it out, but I haven't used it in a while. I never noticed anything coming out from it, but I suppose it could be pretty hard to see, especially if it didn't come out in big clumps. If your dog won't let you squirt anything in, I'm not sure what else you can do, but you could talk to your vet about clearing it for her the next time she's anesthetized.
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Feb 18, 2019 22:13
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| # ¿ May 4, 2024 01:21 |
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I'm sorry to hear about your sick dog. I had a grey who had to have emergency surgery to tie open his larynx at age 12 or 13. It knocked him for a loop, to be sure, but he had some good months after that, and lasted on the order of a year before other issues forced my hand. Every dog and situation is different, of course, and amputation seems much more traumatic than neck surgery, but if he's in otherwise good health, others have had success with it on older dogs, and/or the vet thinks it's a good idea to try, don't refuse to let yourself consider it.
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Oct 21, 2019 05:27
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